Distributed network architecture for introducing dynamic content into a synthetic environment

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer-based simulations and synthetic environment generation, and more particularly, to a system, a computer-readable medium, a method and an apparatus for generating synthetic environments in a distributed architecture to, among other things, introduce dynamic content.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. Nonprovisionalapplication Ser. No. 11/715,009, filed on Mar. 6, 2007, which is herebyincorporated by reference for all purposes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer-basedsimulations and synthetic environment generation, and more particularly,to a system, a computer-readable medium, a method and an apparatus forgenerating synthetic environments in a distributed architecture to,among other things, introduce dynamic content.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditional techniques for designing and simulating computer-generatedenvironments, such as virtual worlds in massively multiplayer online(“MMO”) games, do not readily facilitate the efficient development andproduction of new or modified virtual worlds. Moreover, conventionalgame platforms for generating virtual worlds further impede thedevelopment and production of virtual worlds, especially with respect tomassively multiplayer online games. Generally, conventional gameplatforms use a set of game servers to create a virtual world, with eachadditional set of games servers being used to create a copy of thevirtual world. Such copies are typically referred to as “shards.”Conventional game platforms routinely divide the geography of eachvirtual world into partitions, and allocate one game server to generateeach single partition. A game server that is configured to generate apartition of a virtual world is commonly referred to as an “areaserver.” Further, some conventional game servers are monolithic, whichmeans that all the game processes for generating a partition for avirtual world are instituted in a single process and/or server. Whilefunctional, there are a variety of drawbacks associated withconventional game platforms, as well as the traditional approaches todeveloping computer-generated worlds.

A drawback for some conventional game platforms is that they allocateone game server for a partition of the virtual world. As such, the gameserver and its functionality are usually linked directly to thepartition and its activities. The performance of a geographically-linkedgame server, therefore, is a function of the number of players at thatpartition as well as the kinds of activities being performed there.Further, conventional game platforms that use monolithic game serversare somewhat limited by their inability to adjust their hardwarecapabilities to meet increases in demand. So, as more players move to aspecific partition, the game server that supports that partition becomesincreasingly burdened. This, in turn, limits the number of players thatcan interact with the corresponding virtual world partition. As aremedy, some massively multiplayer online games operate to migrateplayers off game servers that are heavily populated to game servers thatare relatively less populated. This may significantly impact playerexperience.

Yet another drawback to traditional game platforms is that each gameserver usually has a separate process space for generating a virtualworld partition than the other game servers in the same virtual world.It is not uncommon that players interact across a geographic boundarythat demarcates two virtual world portions. As such, difficulties arisedue to partition boundaries and conventional game platforms generallyrequire computational resources to try to manage cross-partitioninteractions. For example, a game server associated with one player inone partition generally requires some sort of tracking functionality totrack the interactions of that player with other players in othervirtual world partitions. As another example, consider thatcomputational resources are generally required to maintain players asproxies in different process spaces. Traditionally, implementing playersas proxies requires converting one representation of player-specificinformation for one virtual world partition, such as a characteridentifier, into another representation for use with a separate processspace for another virtual world partition. Further, game servers usuallycommunicate among themselves about player interactions using, forexample, remote procedure calls, which increases the complexity ofcommunications as well as latency for cross-partition interactions.

A further drawback to conventional game platforms is that players (orproxies of players) that interact across different virtual worldpartitions can readily disrupt transactions to unjustly enrichthemselves. To illustrate, consider that a first player at one virtualworld partition offers to exchange a weapon for gold possessed by asecond player at another virtual world partition. Next, consider thatthe first player receives the gold, but before surrendering the weapon,the first player breaks the connection between the game servers at thedifferent virtual world partitions. As a result, the first player willreceive the gold without exchanging the weapon.

One drawback to using monolithic game servers is that if one of the gamesubprocesses, such as a physics process, of a monolithic game serverfalters or shuts down, then the entire game server in which the gamesubprocess resides is also susceptible to faltering or shutting down.

There are other drawbacks to using current client-server architecturesto design and simulate computer-generated environments for massivelymultiplayer online games. Consider that along with the developmentactivities required to create new content for new or modified virtualworlds, game designers and developers also regularly modify executableinstructions to accommodate the new content and its data. Modifyingexecutable instructions usually increases the development time,especially during quality assurance and reliability testing to weed outbugs and other problems. Further, massively multiplayer online gamescommonly require the modified executable code to be downloaded to aclient prior to interacting with the new content. For instance, it isnot uncommon for massively multiplayer online game platforms toimplement large data downloads (e.g., 250 MB), which can include themodified executable code.

In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a system, acomputer-readable medium, a method and an apparatus for generatingsynthetic environments in a distributed architecture to, among otherthings, introduce dynamic content into the synthetic environments, andto further provide for efficient development and production of new ormodified synthetic environments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to computer-basedsimulations and synthetic environment generation, and more particularly,to a system, a computer-readable medium, a method and an apparatus forgenerating synthetic environments in a distributed architecture to,among other things, introduce dynamic content. In one embodiment, asynthetic environment generation platform can implement a universal datastructure and a messaging system to facilitate generation of syntheticenvironments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The invention is more fully appreciated in connection with the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1A depicts a system for generating synthetic environments inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 1B is an illustration of game management servers generating, inwhole or in part, a synthetic environment with respect to a quasiaggregated process space in accordance with at least one embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a messaging system inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 depicts a system for generating synthetic environments thatimplement universal messaging interfaces in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4A depicts a method for introducing dynamic content into asynthetic environments, according to at least one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 4B depicts a synthetic environment generation platform configuredto introduce dynamic content into a synthetic environment, according toat least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a quasi aggregated process space for use ingenerating synthetic environments in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a portion of a messagingsystem implementing a compressed universal message, according to atleast one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 depicts a system for generating synthetic environments thatimplement a master scaling server, according to at least one embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a master scaling server addingscaleable game subprocess servers, according to at least one embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a synthetic environment generation platformimplementing specific implementations of game subprocess servers,according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an implementation of physics processes,according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a technique for determining visibility,according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a synthetic environment generationplatform implementing additional types of game subprocess servers,according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a technique for enabling game play duringpatching, according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 14 is an illustration of a synthetic environment generationplatform implementing an event server and an event editor, according toat least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 15 depicts a flow for creating events for introducing variousdegrees of dynamic content, in accordance with at least one embodimentof the invention;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a specific implementation of a universaldata structure in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 17 is a diagram depicting elements of a property class system,according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 18 depicts a flow for creating a universal message in accordancewith at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 19 illustrates elements of a property class system for creating auniversal message in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 20 illustrates elements of a property class system for creating aplug, according to at least one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a portion of a messagingsystem implementing a compressed universal message, according to atleast one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 22 is an illustration of a number of clients implementing auniversal messaging interface to interact with a synthetic environmentgeneration platform, according to at least one embodiment of theinvention.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings. Note that most of the reference numeralsinclude one or two left-most digits that generally identify the figurethat first introduces that reference number.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1A depicts a system for generating synthetic environments inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. One example ofsuch a system is a synthetic environment generation platform 100, whichinclude nodes (and node processes) that are networked together togenerate a synthetic environment with which clients 150 interact.Synthetic environment generation platform 100 represents the server-sidestructure and/or functionality in a client-server network architecture,and clients 150 represent the client-side structure and/orfunctionality. The nodes include game subprocess servers 104, databases112 and game management servers 122, all of which are coupled togetherby a network 115, to respectively implement game subprocesses 102,databases processes 110, and game management processes 120. Gamesubprocesses 102 can include more or fewer than subprocesses 102 a, 102b and 102 c. As shown, game subprocess servers 104 are arranged in adistributed arrangement relative to at least game management servers122, thereby separating game subprocesses 102 from game managementprocesses 120. In at least one embodiment, game subprocess servers 104a, game subprocess servers 104 b, and game subprocess servers 104 c canbe configured to operate as physics servers, artificial intelligenceservers, and transaction servers, respectively, or as any othergame-related subprocess. Further, synthetic environment generationplatform 100 is configured to implement a quasi aggregated process space152 that can be shared either among game management servers 122, oramong synthetic environment generation platform 100 and other similarsynthetic environment generation platforms 100 (not shown), or both,according to various embodiments.

By distributing game subprocesses 102 a, 102 b and 102 c separately fromgame managements processes 120, game management servers 122 operateindependently, thereby making them less vulnerable to deteriorations inperformance of any of game subprocess servers 104. Thus, hardware andsoftware failures can be localized to a specific game server subprocess102, thereby enabling expedited problem identification and resolution,often without interrupting the game management processes 120. Thisallows clients 150, such as client 150 a and client 150 b, to continueinteracting with a synthetic environment without being interrupted byproblems occurring with game subprocess servers 104. In addition,distributed game subprocesses 102 a, 102 b and 102 c promote independentscaling in the amount of game subprocess servers 104 that can be broughtonline to sufficiently provide an appropriate amount of gamesubprocesses 102 a, 102 b and 102 c. For example, if a syntheticenvironment requires additional artificial intelligence, then additionalartificial intelligence servers can be brought online independent of theneeds of other game subprocesses 102, such as physics processes. Thus,an appropriate amount of hardware and software can be implemented tofacilitate synthetic environment generation for any number of clients150 interacting with the synthetic environment generated by syntheticenvironment generation platform 100. Further, quasi aggregated processspace 152, which is shared with other similar synthetic environmentgeneration platforms, facilitates inter-platform (i.e., cross-shard)interactions, thereby providing for improved communications and moresecure transactions, among other things.

Game management servers 122 are each configured to collaborate with gamesubprocesses 102 and databases processes 110 to generate a syntheticenvironment with which a participant interacts. As such, game managementservers 122 are configured to manage a number of participants associatedwith clients 150 in their interactions with the synthetic environment.Note that game subprocesses 102 can be scaled accordingly to support thenumber of clients 150. In various embodiments, clients 150 can bedistributed across multiple game management servers 122, rather thanbeing restricted to one game-generating process. To illustrate, considerthat client 150 a can interact with game management server 122 a andclient 150 b can interact with game management server 122 c. Whileclients 150 a and 150 b interact with different game managementprocesses, they can share a quasi aggregated process space 152,regardless of the synthetic environment with which clients 150 a and 150b interact. In one embodiment, clients 150 a and 150 b can share quasiaggregated process space 152 as a common process space. As such,cross-synthetic environment interactions can readily occur. In someembodiments, game management servers 122 can operate to validate anaction requested by a particular participant, thereby authenticatingthat the participant has rights to modify game data. In at least oneembodiment, game management servers 122 a to 122 n maintain the gamedata representing interactions by clients 150 with the syntheticenvironment in a read-only form. As such, the game data cannot bemanipulated to corrupt transactions that might otherwise unjustly enricha participant.

In one embodiment, game subprocess servers 104 a can be physics servers,which can be configured to process movement and collision activity, suchas for a participant in a synthetic environment. For example, physicsserver 104 a can process physics-related events, such as collisiondetection, rigid body movement, and the like. Game subprocess servers104 b, according to at least one embodiment, can be artificialintelligence servers, which can be configured to provide artificialintelligence to simulate, for example, movement by non-player characters(“NPC”) in a synthetic environment.

In various embodiments, game subprocess server 104 c can be atransaction server, which can be configured to manage transactions amongparticipants to ensure the transactions are atomic. That is, gamesubprocess server 104 c can operate to ensure that all parts of atransaction occur, or all do not occur, thereby guaranteeing that gamedata stored in database processes 110 are not updated unless all partsof the transactions succeed, thereby reducing loop-holes forparticipants to seek unjust enrichments. The transaction server is thegame authority that ensures that an activity is completed correctly forboth participants, or is failed by both participants. In one embodiment,all servers in synthetic environment generation platform 100 areread-only except game subprocess server 104 c (as a transaction server).Thus, a transaction server—as game subprocess server 104 c—can operateas a single authority for transacting game data (i.e., it is authorizedto modify game data). In at least one embodiment, a transaction serverconstituting a game subprocess server 104 can be configured to implementquasi aggregated process space 152 as a unitary process space, therebyenabling participants to engage game management servers for differentsynthetic environments while transacting within a emulated commonprocess space provided by quasi aggregated process space 152.

In operation, clients 150 a and 150 b generate requests to causerepresentations of the participants, such as avatars, to modify gamedata in game management processes 120. As used herein, the term “gamemanagement server,” at least in one embodiment, refers to a computingdevice and/or a process that manages interactions of participants with asynthetic environment. For example, a game management server can acceptinput from clients 150, and, in response, collaborate with gamesubprocesses 102 and database processes 110 to generate modified gamedata, which represents a modified synthetic environment based on clientinteraction, for transmission back to clients 150 a and 150 b. As usedherein, the term “game subprocess server,” at least in one embodiment,refers to a computing device and/or a process that performs a subset ofa game process, such as a physics server and an artificial intelligenceserver, the results of which are used by a game management server.

As used herein, the term “node,” at least in one embodiment, refers tocomputing devices and/or processes that influence the generation of asynthetic environment, such as a server, a client, a database, and thelike. As used herein, the term “game data,” at least in one embodiment,refers to at least a subset of data relating to the generation of asynthetic environment. Game data can include map data to, for example,generate a terrain of a synthetic environment. Game data can alsoinclude the state of a participant, including character data, inventorydata (e.g., weapons data), bank data, synthetic home data, award data,and the like. As used herein, the term “synthetic environment,” at leastin one embodiment, can refer to a virtual world (or a portion thereof)that is a computer-based simulated environment intended for itsparticipants to inhabit and interact via, for example, avatars. Asynthetic environment can also refer to a shard or a persistent world(or a portion thereof), which is a virtual world that progresses withoutor without participant interaction. As used herein, the term“participant,” at least in one embodiment, refers to either a player, ora two or three-dimensional graphical representation (e.g., an avatar)representation of the player, or both. A participant can also refer to aclient with which the player interacts. As used herein, the term “quasiaggregated process space,” at least in one embodiment, refers to amemory space allocated for an application and/or implemented forexecuting instructions by a processor (e.g., one or more centralprocessing units (“CPUs”)), whereby the memory space is configured tobehave as an aggregated, common process space for certain types of data,and is further configured to behave as separate process spaces for oneor more other types of data.

Note that game subprocess servers 104 and game subprocesses 102 can beconfigured to implement any other game-related processes to facilitate,for example, massively multiplayer online gaming (“MMO”) in accordancewith other embodiments. Further, one or more databases 112 a to 112 ccan be configured to store data, for example, to generate the syntheticenvironment, among other things. As such, one or more databases 112 a to112 c can store account data relating to participant accounts,statistical data, audit data, game data, and the like. In a specificembodiment, synthetic environment generation platform 100 is configuredto exchange data via a link 140, which can convey communications signalsthrough, for example, any of a number of networks (not shown), includingthe Internet. In one embodiment, link 140 is configured to transmitand/or receive data at least from about 5 Kbs to about 10 Kbs, orhigher. As such, link 140 can support 5 Kbs upstream and 5 Kbsdownstream, especially at substantially the same time. In otherembodiments, link 140 is a relatively high bandwidth link that can beimplemented as a broadband connection, such as using digital subscriberline (“DSL”) technologies, cable technologies, satellite technologies,and the like. Also, link 140 can be a wireless link. In one embodiment,high bandwidth link 140 can transmit and/or receive data at rates fasterthan 10 Kbs, and, as such, link 140 can implement data transfer rateshigher than 10 Kbs. Further, network 115 is configured to transportmessages and/or packets at a rate of at least 1 to 16 gigabits persecond, or faster. In one embodiment, network 115 is a 10 gigabitEthernet (“10 GbE”) network.

FIG. 1B is an illustration of game management servers generating, inwhole or in part, a synthetic environment in connection with a processspace, according to at least one embodiment of the invention. Syntheticenvironment generation platform 160 is configured to generate asynthetic environment 162 for clients 150 a and 150 b. In this example,synthetic environment 162 includes four regions: region one (“R1”) 163,region two (“R2”) 165, region three (“R3”) 167, and region four (“R4”)169. Next, consider that participant 170 and participant 172 arerespectively associated with clients 150 a and 150 b. Syntheticenvironment generation platform 160 includes game management processes120 implemented by game (“mgmt”) management servers 122 a to 122 d.Synthetic environment generation platform 160 also includes a quasiaggregated process space 161 with which synthetic environment 162 can begenerated.

According to various embodiments of the invention, quasi aggregatedprocess space 161 is configured to operate as a common process space insome instances and as a collection of separate processes during otherinstances. In particular, quasi aggregated process space 161 isconfigured to function as a common process space for a first subset ofgame data, and is configured to function as separate process spaces fora second subset of data. For example, transaction server 190 isconfigured to implement quasi aggregated process space 161 as a commonprocess space for non-geometry-related data and transaction-relateddata, for example, whereas game management servers 122 are configured toimplement quasi aggregated process space 161 as separate process spacesfor geometry-related data, as an example. In at least one embodiment,synthetic environment generation platform 160 includes a transactionserver 190 to implement, in whole or in part, quasi aggregated processspace 161. In particular, transaction server 190 has a common processspace with which to process both the first subset of data 192 forparticipant 170 c and the first subset of data 194 for participant 172.Examples of the first subsets of data 192 and 194 include datarepresenting items that the participants wish to trade. The secondsubsets of data for participants 170 c and 172, for example, can relateto geometry data that, for example, game management servers 122 b and122 d process.

In operation, when participant 170 logs in, synthetic environmentgeneration platform 160 assigns that participant to game managementservers 122 b. By contrast, when participant 172 logs in, syntheticenvironment generation platform 160 assigns participant 172 to gamemanagement servers 122 d. Participant 170 and 172 remain associated withgame management servers 122 b and 122 d, respectively, during thesession. Next, consider that both wish to engage in an activity atregion two 165, as do many other participants that are not shown.Participant 170 a enters synthetic environment 162 at region one 163,and then moves to region two 165 as participant 170 b. As both regionsone 163 and two 165 relate to a quasi aggregated process space 161,computational resources that otherwise would be required to managecross-partition interactions are not needed when, for example, quasiaggregated process space 161 is accessed as a common process space.Participant 170 c can further move to region three 167, and then toregion four 169 as participant 170 d. Note that as more participantsenter region two 165, the increased number does not correspondingly bogdown a server. This is because, according to various embodiments of theinvention, game-related processes that generate synthetic environment162 are not linked to geographic locations. In this example, no one gamemanagement server 122 bears the full burden, which can be amortizedacross game management processes 120 as a whole. Thus, hoards ofparticipants can gather at one region without significantly overwhelmingthe performance of a single game management server 122.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a messaging system inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 shows asynthetic environment generation platform 200 implementing at least aportion of a messaging system 250 configured to couple together, via anetwork 230, a database process 201, a server process 206, and a clientprocess 240, all of which are nodes. Network 230 can be a computernetwork or any other type of communications network. Database process201 includes a database (“d/B”) 202 and a database management system(“DBMS”) 204, which controls the organization, storage and retrieval ofdata in a database 202. In operation, messaging system 250 is configuredto propagate messages, such as messages 220 a and 220 b, that include auniversal data structure 260 for integrating data into a node (or a nodeprocess), such as server process 206. In particular, messaging system250 is configured to exchange data among database process 201, a serverprocess 206, and a client process 240 in a data arrangement that isuseable by each of the processes. In one or more embodiments, the dataarrangement associated with messages 220 a and 220 b is directly useableby each of the processes. For example, server process 206 can use dataarranged in accordance with a universal data structure (“UDS”) 260 aused by message 220 a. As such, database process 201, a server process206, and a client process 240 need not require a conversion from a datastructure associated with messages 220 a and 220 b into a different (orspecialized) form that otherwise might be required by a specific node.Thus, executable code is absent that otherwise might be required toprovide for such conversion.

A shown in FIG. 2, messaging system 250 can include a number ofuniversal message interfaces, such as universal message interface 210 a,universal message interface 210 b, and universal message interface 210c, each of which can be configured to generate messages 220 a and 220 bfor transmission throughout the synthetic environment generationplatform and with client processes 240. Universal message interfaces 210a, 210 b, and 210 c can each be configured to receive messages 220 a and220 b for integrating their data into a node process. Further, whenuniversal data structures 260 are developed, recompiling executable codeis not required that otherwise would be to convert one type of datastructure into a different data structure. As used herein, the term“universal data structure,” at least in one embodiment, refers to arepresentation of data that is universally useable by the nodes, as wellas messages 220 a and 220 b, that do not require a conversion into somedifferent (or specialized) data structure.

In various embodiments, universal message interfaces 210 a, 210 b, and210 c of FIG. 2 can be the same, or, alternatively, can differ toaccommodate the node in which they relate. Universal message interfaces210 a, 210 b, and 210 c can be implemented internal to nodes, or, theycan be disposed any where within a synthetic environment generationplatform. In at least one embodiment, universal message interfaces 210a, 210 b, and 210 c each can be configured to broadcast messages, suchas message 220 a, out to any or all other nodes. As such, universalmessage interfaces 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c each can be configured todetect whether each of the messages is intended for the node to which auniversal message interface relates. In another embodiment, universalmessage interfaces 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c each can be configured totransmit messages targeted to a destination. In one embodiment, messagesbetween a client and the synthetic environment generation platform, suchas message 220 b, can be implemented in one or more User DatagramProtocol (“UDP”) or Internet Protocol (“IP”) packets. In one embodiment,messages among server processes 206 and database processes 201 can beimplemented in one or more Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”)packets. In one embodiment, network 230 supports intra-platformcommunications for synthetic environment generation platform 200. In atleast one embodiment, client process 240 is coupled via network 232 tosynthetic environment generation platform 200. Network 232, in at leastone embodiment, includes the Internet or any other communicationsnetwork. In some instances, client process 240 exchanges messages with adatabase process 201 and/or a server process 206 via an intermediaryprocess (not shown). An example of such an intermediary process is shownas user server of FIG. 12.

In one embodiment, universal data structure 260 is of a class of anobject-oriented programming language, such as C++ or any otherprogramming language. In another embodiment, all types of universal datastructures 260 can relate to a single class. Universal messageinterfaces 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c can determine an instance managementschema configured to enable a node to implement (e.g., directlyimplement) data in universal data structure 260. In one embodiment, anode can include a reference to a schema that directs the node on how toimplement universal data structure 260. In another embodiment, universalmessage 220 a includes the reference. In some embodiments, universalmessage interfaces 210 a, 210 b, and 210 c each can be configured toformat the universal data structure in a platform-independent format,which can be used independent of processor and/or operating system. Oneexample of a platform-independent format is a format defined by, forexample, an extensible markup language, such as XML. XML is maintainedby the World Wide Web Consortium (“W3C”).

FIG. 3 depicts a system for generating synthetic environments thatimplement universal messaging interfaces in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the invention. In this example, a synthetic environmentgeneration platform 300 includes universal message interfaces (“UMI”)302, 304, and 306 that are configured to transmit and/or receiveuniversal data structure-based messages. As shown, universal messageinterfaces 302 a, 302 b, and 302 c are disposed at or near gameprocesses 102 a, 102 b, and 102 c, respectively. Each of universalmessage interfaces 302 a, 302 b, and 302 c is associated with a gamesubprocess server 104. In some cases, universal message interfaces 302a, 302 b, and 302 c each can have equivalent structure and/orfunctionality, and, in other cases, universal message interfaces 302 a,302 b, and 302 c can have different structures and/or functionalities.For example, a physics server might require a different universalmessage interface than, for example, an artificial intelligence server.FIG. 3 also shows that synthetic environment generation platform 300includes universal message interfaces 304 a, 304 b, and 304 c beingdisposed at or near databases 112 a, 112 b, and 112 c, respectively, anduniversal message interfaces 306 a, 306 b, 306 c, and 306 n beingdisposed at or near game management servers 122 a, 122 b, 122 c, and 122n, respectively. Universal message interfaces 308 a and 308 b areimplemented in relation to clients 150 a and 150 b. Note that 304 a, 304b, 304 c, 306 a, 306 b, 306 c, 306 n, 308 a, and 308 b can have eitherequivalent or different structures and/or functionalities with respectto each other. Note, too, that similarly-named elements of FIG. 3 canhave, in some cases, an equivalent structure and/or functionality asthose elements set forth in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4A depicts a method for introducing dynamic content into asynthetic environment, according to at least one embodiment of theinvention. Diagram 401 depicts the development of, for example, amassively multiplayer online (“MMO”) game using a synthetic environmentgeneration platform, according to one embodiment. During codedevelopment and compilation stage 431, game developers can generate andcompile source code to form object code 421 as executable code. Indeveloping the source code, socket code 423 can be generated andcompiled. Socket code 423 includes executable instructions and/or inputsconfigured to access data from plug data 425. As such, plug data 425 canbe developed in coordination with both socket code 423 and object code421 as part of a quality assurance (“QA”) process. After qualityassurance metrics are met, both object code 421 (including socket code423), and plug data 425 can be released for on-line gaming. Subsequentto code development and compilation stage 433, content developers canimplement a synthetic environment generation platform to create otherplug data 427 during a post-code compilation stage 433. During stage433, plug data 427 can be created for use with socket code 423 withoutrevising object code 421. For example, content developers can substitutean Aegis Cruiser as plug data 427 for a kayak that was formed by plugdata 425, without modifying executable code. By foregoing arecompilation of the object code, developers can more quickly delivernew dynamic content into a synthetic environment implementing socketcode 423. Further, future plug data 470 can be created without affectingthe object code, thereby facilitating relatively rapid contentdevelopment. As used herein, the term “dynamic content,” at least in oneembodiment, refers to content data that can be introduced into asynthetic environment as computer-generated visual and/or sound content,whereby the content data can be created independent to the modificationof executable code with which the content data interacts. As such,content data can be developed without affecting object code.

FIG. 4B depicts a synthetic environment generation platform configuredto introduce dynamic content into a synthetic environment, according toat least one embodiment of the invention. In this example, system 400includes a synthetic environment generation platform 450 that isconfigured to generate a synthetic environment 420 with whichparticipants interact, and into which dynamic content 422 is introduced.System 400 includes data repositories 402, 430 and 460. In particular,data repository 402 is configured to store plug objects 410 a and 410 bthat include content data for introducing a kayak and an Aegis cruiser,respectively, as dynamic content 422. Plug objects 410 a and 410 b canimplement data arrangements similar to, or the same as, the universaldata structures of the various embodiments. Plug objects 410 a and 410 bcan also include data representing location, positioning, speed, and apath 424 along which a boat can sail. Data repository 430 is configuredto store object code 434 for running, for example, a massivelymultiplayer online game. Data repository 430 is also configured to storesocket code 432, which can form a portion of object code 434. Socketcode 423 includes executable instructions and/or inputs configured toaccess data from plug data 425 (of FIG. 4A) for use by object code 434to effectuate generation of dynamic content 422. Data repository 460 isconfigured to store world data 462 to form synthetic environment 420.World data 462 and socket code 432 can share a relationship 464 fordefining the locations at which socket code 423 will introduce dynamiccontent 422.

Synthetic environment generation platform 450 includes an event server452, which is configured to introduce dynamic content 422 into at leasta portion of synthetic environment 420. The dynamic content 422 can beintroduced substantially coincident to the execution of object codeinstructions to generate synthetic environment 420. As such, syntheticenvironment generation platform 450 can be configured to initialize aplug insertion process 440, during which one of plug objects 410 a and410 b is inserted into socket code 432 to instantiate dynamic content422. In a specific embodiment, event server 452 is configured tointroduce dynamic content 422 without modifying object code 434. In oneembodiment, plug objects 410 a and 410 b belong to a system of universalobjects that includes at least one universal data structure. Further,plug objects 410 a and 410 b, and the system of universal objects,obviate recompilation of object code instructions 434 to introducedynamic content 422. By implementing plug objects 410 and socket code432, at least one game management server can be configured to generatedynamic content 422 without rebooting, such as after implementingmodified object code.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of a process space for use in generatingsynthetic environments in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention. Here, a synthetic environment generation platform 500 isconfigured to generate a synthetic environment for clients 550 a and 550b. Synthetic environment generation platform 500 includes gamemanagement processes 520 implemented by game management (“mgmt”) servers522 a to 522 n. Synthetic environment generation platform 500 alsoincludes quasi aggregated process space 502 in which transactions, suchas transaction 504, can be implemented as an atomic transaction. Assuch, either the all parts of a transaction are performed or none ofthem is. To illustrate, consider an example in which a first participant(“participant 1”) 506 is associated with client 550 a, and a secondparticipant (“participant 2”) 510 is associated with client 550 b. Firstparticipant 506 and second participant 510 respectively possess an item(“Item A”) 508 and an item (“Item B”) 512. Next, consider that theparticipants 506 and 510 arrange to exchange items 508 and 512, but haveyet to confirm their wishes. Once both participants 506 and 510 agree tothe exchange, the transaction is finalized. During transactions such asthis, quasi aggregated process space 502 is configured to behave acommon process space, thereby making transaction 504 less vulnerable tomanipulation. In one embodiment, a transaction server (not shown)operates to either interact with or provide quasi aggregated processspace 502. According to one embodiment, quasi aggregated process space502 emulates a common process space, and as such, enables participantsto transfer readily among different synthetic environments created bydifferent synthetic environment generation platforms 500. As usedherein, the term “transaction,” at least in one embodiment, refers to aset of tasks constituting an activity that involves one or moreparticipants interacting with a synthetic environment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a portion of a messagingsystem implementing a compressed universal message, according to atleast one embodiment of the invention. Here, message system portion 600includes a server process 606 and a client process 650, both of whichare coupled via a network 630 for exchanging messages, among otherthings. In this example, message system portion 600 can transport asubset of data associated with a server-side (or a client-side)universal data structure 660, such as in response to client process 650indicating a modification to the synthetic environment. Server process606 and client process 650 respectively include universal messageinterface 610 a and universal message interface 610 b. Server process606 can use data arranged in accordance with a universal data structure(“UDS”) 660 to, in whole or in part, generate a synthetic environment inresponse to game data modifications transmitted from client process 650.An example of modified game data is the game data generated by clientprocess 650 that indicates movement by an avatar. In at least oneembodiment, server process 606 and/or client process 650 can exchangemessages as a compressed universal message 620. As both server process606 and client process 650 can implement universal data structure 660with which to exchange data, a reduced amount of data can be exchangedin compressed universal message 620. In particular, only modified gamedata 624 associated with universal data structure 622 need betransported in a universal message. In one embodiment, compresseduniversal message 620 also includes a key 628 specifying which attributemodified game data 624 relates. With this information, server process606 can modify the synthetic environment.

FIG. 7 depicts a system for generating synthetic environments thatimplement a master scaling server, according to at least one embodimentof the invention. Synthetic environment generation platform 700 includesan inter-process messaging network 750 and a master scaling server 752,both of which are configured to scale game subprocess capabilities tosatisfy variations in demand for game subprocesses, such as physicsprocesses and artificial intelligence processes. Synthetic environmentgeneration platform 700 also includes various game subprocesses 702,database processes 710, and game management processes 720. In operation,master scaling server 752 is configured to add or remove game subprocessservers as appropriate. For example, if more physics processing isneeded, master scaling server 752 can add additional physics servers.But if less artificial intelligence is needed, master scaling server 752can take artificial intelligence servers off-line.

Master scaling server 752 is configured to monitor a list of servers,which also includes information about the type of server (e.g., whethera server is a physics server, artificial intelligence server, etc.), thesynthetic environment to which game subprocess server 702 belongs, andthe like. Master scaling server 752 is also configured to monitorrequest messages for additional game subprocesses via inter-processmessaging network 750 from, for example, one or more game managementservers requiring additional services or capacity. In response, masterscaling server 752 can coordinate establishment of connections among anewly-added game subprocess server, such as any of game subprocessservers 704 a, 704 b, and 704 c, and a requesting server, such as a gamemanagement server.

In one embodiment, a scaleable game subprocess server is configured,when brought on-line, to communicate its identity and other relatedinformation to master scaling server 752. The other related informationcan include a server type, an associated synthetic environment to whichit belongs, etc. In response, master scaling server 752 dynamicallyallocates the scaleable game subprocess server to, for example, a gamemanagement server requiring such a server type. In particular, masterscaling server 752 sends a command and connection information (e.g.,host and port information) to the scaleable game subprocess server toconnect to the requesting game management server. In some cases, masterscaling server 752 communicates connection information (e.g., host andport information) to the requesting game management server to receive aconnection from the scaleable game subprocess server. In at least oneembodiment, master scaling server 752 can be configured to monitor theloading of game management servers, and, automatically add or removegame subprocess servers. In one embodiment, an inter-process messagingnetwork 750 is coextensive with or is the same as a universal messagingsystem implemented over network 715.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a master scaling server addingscaleable game subprocess servers, according to at least one embodimentof the invention. In particular, diagram 800 depicts game subprocessservers 804 providing a game subprocess 802 that is used by a gamemanagement server (not shown). Also shown, master scaling server 852 isadding scaleable physics servers 810 to boost physics processingcapabilities. In one embodiment, scaleable physics servers 810 and gamesubprocess servers 804 are each homogeneous hardware platforms. Withhomogeneous hardware platforms, master scaling server 852 can increasethe flexibility for scaling up and down as necessary.

FIG. 9 is an illustration of a synthetic environment generation platformimplementing specific types of game subprocess servers, according to atleast one embodiment of the invention. Synthetic environment generationplatform 900 includes game subprocesses 901, a game database 910configured to store game data, and game management processes 920, whichinclude game management servers 922 a to 922 n. In this example, gamesubprocesses 901 include the following specific types of game subprocessservers: a physics server 902 a, an artificial intelligence (“AI”)server 902 b, and a transaction server 902 c. By implementing these gamesubprocesses in separate servers, synthetic environment generationplatform 900 is less susceptible to problems associated with a gamesubprocess. Further, certain game subprocesses can be scaledappropriately to meet a demand independent from other game subprocessneeds.

Physics server 902 a represents one or more physics servers configuredto process movement and collision detection activity for the syntheticenvironment. In various embodiments, physics server 902 a can alsoperform any of the following: visibility determinations, instancing,movement validation and/or path segmenting for artificially intelligentNPCs. In making visibility determinations, physics server 902 acalculates whether objects and/or other participants in a syntheticworld are visible to a participant. An entity is visible to aparticipant when that entity is within a visibility range of theparticipant, where physics server 902 a determines whether the entity isin the visibility range. FIG. 11 illustrates an alternate technique fordetermining visibility, according to an embodiment of the invention.Referring back to FIG. 9, physics server 902 a also can be configured toprovide “instancing,” whereby a collection of participants (andassociated physics processing) perform activities within a portion ofthe synthetic environment, such as in a virtual house, or in an area atwhich they will band together to fight an NPC, such as a boss monster.

Movement validation is the act of validating the movement of aparticipant in the context of the synthetic environment. Physics server902 a can be configured to validate movement against the virtual terrainand any entities (i.e., other characters and/or objects) that are in thepath of the desired movement. Based on the rate at which theparticipant's avatar moves relative to the virtual terrain, the locationof the participant can be modified to reflect its location in thesynthetic environment. Physics server 902 a can run a simulation tovalidate that the location is correct before sending modified game datato the clients. Physics server 902 a can also be configured to validatemovement of a participant to ensure that participant is permitted toeither engage in certain activities or move within certain areas of thesynthetic environment. In one embodiment, physics server 902 a validatesa subset of participants per unit time, and cycles through differentsubsets over time. Any participant that is not authorized to move aboutor at certain areas of a synthetic environment, then that participantcan be tagged as being suspected of performing an exploit. Further,physics server 902 a can provide path segments to artificialintelligence (“AI”) server 902 b so that NPCs can avoid objects thatother would block movement of an NPC, due to the terrain and/or staticobjects. In various embodiments, one or more of the above-discussedphysics processes can be implemented as separate processes in separateservers.

Artificial intelligence (“AI”) server 902 b represents one or moreartificial intelligence servers configured to providecomputer-implemented non-player characters (“NPCs”) and the like withartificial intelligence to determine the behavior of NPCs. Additionalartificial intelligence servers 902 b can be added to support thesynthetic environment during increased demands for artificialintelligence. For example, if an event requires a large number of NPCs,then additional artificial intelligence servers 902 b can be added. Inone embodiment, a participant can assume control of an NPC to “play themonster.”

Transaction server 902 c represents one or more transactions serversconfigured to process, among other things, run-time participant gamedata, regardless of the location of the participant. As such,transaction server 902 c includes a cache 903 to facilitate character(i.e., participant) movement between, for example, a persistent world(i.e., a synthetic environment) and an instance (i.e., a portion of thesynthetic environment, such as in virtual building). Using cache 903avoids having to reload game data from the database as the participantmoves between synthetic environments and portions thereof. In someembodiments, representations of game data are marked as read-only inprocesses other than transaction server 902 c to, for example, avoidmanipulation of transactions. Further, transaction server 902 cfacilitates atomic transactions within a quasi aggregated process space.While transaction server 902 c performs transactions, game managementservers 922 a to 922 n can be configured to validate participants toconfirm their identities prior to transaction server 902 c modifying thedata in response to a transaction.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an implementation of physics processes,according to at least one embodiment of the invention. Diagram 1000shows visibility processes and instancing processes being off-loadedfrom physics server 1002 into separate visibility server 1004 andinstance server 1006, respectively. Visibility server 1004 is configuredto determine whether objects and/or other participants in a syntheticworld are visible to a participant. Instance server 1006 is configuredto providing “instancing,” whereby a collection of participants andassociated physics processing for performing a group or localizedactivity within a portion of the synthetic environment. With visibilityprocesses and instancing processes being separate from the physicsprocesses for the synthetic environment, physics server 1002 is lessburdened. Further, visibility server 1004 and instance server 1006 areless susceptible to problems relating to physics server 1002.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a technique for determining visibility,according to at least one embodiment of the invention. Diagram 1100illustrates an example of a technique for determining the visibility fora participant 1104. In one case, a visibility server first defines avisibility range 1102 for defining participant 1104. As such,participant can see objects at a distance 1106. In at least oneembodiment, objects, NPCs, and other players each are associated with a“can-be-seen” range. Larger objects, such as a mountain 1114, can have alarger “can-be-seen” range 1112, than smaller objects, such as a mouse1124, which has a “can-be-seen” range 1122. In one embodiment, avisibility server is configured to implement a sphere intersection testin which an object becomes visible to participant when a “can-be-seen”range, such as “can-be-seen” range 1112 for mountain 1114, intersectswith visibility range 1102. A “can-be-seen” range can be represented asa circle (i.e., 2-D) or a sphere (i.e., 3-D). Note that in a specificembodiment, participant 1104 has two ranges: (1.) a participantvisibility range defined by sphere 1102, and (2.) a “can-be-seen” range1160 at which other entities can see participant 1104 if the entity orits visibility range intersects “can-be-seen” range 1160. Next, considerthat a giant 1150 has a visibility range 1152 at a distance 1154 fromthe giant, and has a “can-be-seen” range 1153 at a distance of 1155 fromthe giant. Further, participant 1104 has a “can-be-seen” range 1160 at adistance of 1158 from participant 1104. So when giant 1150 approachesparticipant 1104, and its visibility range 1152 intersects “can-be-seen”range 1160, then giant 1150 can see participant 1104. But whenvisibility range 1152 is within a visibility gap 1160, the participantcannot see giant 1154. Note that once visibility range 1152 intersectsvisibility range 1102, then participant 1104 can see giant 1150. In viewof the foregoing, diagram 1100 illustrates an example for a technique todetermine visibility that reduces unnatural visual effects (e.g.,entities appear to “pop up” when they cross visibility range 1102) thatcan occur when only a visibility ranged is used to determine visibility.While not shown, mouse 1124 also can have a visibility range. In variousembodiments, non-player characters (“NPCs”) and participants each canhave a visibility range and a “can-be-seen” range.

FIG. 12 is an illustration of a synthetic environment generationplatform implementing additional types of game subprocess servers,according to at least one embodiment of the invention. Syntheticenvironment generation platform 1200 includes game subprocesses 1202, agame database 1212 a configured to store game data, an audit database1212 b configured to store audit data (i.e., a record of all or mostinteractions by each participant) and statistical data, and gamemanagement processes 1220, which include game management servers 1222 ato 1222 n. In addition, synthetic environment generation platform 1200includes a user server 1270, a patch server 1272 and a stats/auditserver 1274.

User server 1270 can be configured to route messages between any of gamemanagement servers 1222 a to 1222 n and client 1250. However, once aparticipant logs in to interact with the synthetic environment, userserver 1270 will assign participant and its client 1250 to one of gamemanagement servers 1222 a to 1222 n. Thereafter, user server 1270 canrelay messages to and from one of game management servers 1222 and theparticipant. During the session, the participant can retain arelationship with the same game management server. User server 1270 canalso be configured to connect clients 1250 in a manner that distributesclient connections evenly across game management servers 1222 a to 1222n, thereby effecting load balancing. In some cases, user server 1270 canalso be configured to authenticate participants upon signing on. In atleast one instance, user server 1270 can selectively encrypt dataexchanged between game management servers 1222 a to 1222 n and client1250. In one embodiment, user server 1270 foregoes encryptingmovement-related messages, which are a predominant amount of messages.As such, the delays associated with encryption are reduced. Patch server1272 can be configured to incrementally transmit patches to client 1250,such as on a file-by-file basis. In at least one embodiment, patchserver 1272 is configured to trickle patches at an opportune time, suchas at login, as well as during game play (i.e., during interactions by aparticipant with a synthetic environment). Stats/audit server 1274 isconfigured to collect and use statistics for participant use and/or fortriggering events in connection with an event server.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a technique for enabling game play duringpatching, according to at least one embodiment of the invention. Diagram1300 illustrates regions added as new “worlds,” “continents” orsynthetic environments. The progression of synthetic environmentexpansion is shown by arrow 1330. Consider that region (“1”) 1302 wasimplemented with an originally downloaded game. Next, consider thatregion (“2”) 1312 represents an expanded synthetic environment for whicha participant downloaded a patch. Lastly, consider that the participanthas yet to implement the next patch for region (“3”) 1322, but wishes toenter region 1322 from region 1302. As the participant travels fromregion 1302 to region 1312, the participant will observe tree 1304 andtree 1314. But as participant passes over delineation 1316, theparticipant will be in a local that has yet to be completed. As such,synthetic environment generation platform will display a proxy asset(i.e., a substitute object) 1324 if the patching data to render a treeis yet to be completed. As such, the participant need not be prohibitedfrom entering the new region 1322, but might experience fill-in objectsuntil the patching process is completed.

FIG. 14 is an illustration of a synthetic environment generationplatform implementing an event server and an event editor, according toat least one embodiment of the invention. Synthetic environmentgeneration platform 1400 includes game subprocesses 1401, a gamedatabase 1410 configured to store game data, and game managementprocesses 1420, which include game management servers 1422 a to 1422 n.Synthetic environment generation platform 1400 also includes an eventserver 1430 and an event editor 1480. Event server 1430 is configured tocontrol the introduction of dynamic content into synthetic environmentsas a function, for example, of player activity, such as triggering apredetermined trigger or condition, and/or pre-determined scheduling.For example, if a number of participants congregating at a specificlocation surpass a trigger point, then event server 1430 can triggerintroduction of dynamic content. In some embodiments, event server 1430can modify the types of ships or creatures that are spawned. Eventserver 1430 is configured to access plug objects from event librarydatabase 1412 to generate dynamic content. In one embodiment, eventserver 1430 is configured to generate data to drive an Event ServerGuide 1490 that displays programmed events for participants to previewand join those events. Event editor 1480 is configured to aggregate plugobjects in association with a number of sockets to introduce varyingamount of dynamic content, whereby the collection of plug objects canintroduce creatures, trees, structures, and the like into a syntheticenvironment.

FIG. 15 depicts a flow for creating events for introducing variousdegrees of dynamic content, in accordance with at least one embodimentof the invention. Flow 1500 is an example of a method to create an eventusing plug objects, which include universal data structures stored in anevent library. At 1502, an event is defined and requirements areindicated. At 1504, game designers create a new event by, for example,using pre-made plug objects, until the new event is established at 1506.At 1508, the event is tested to confirm that the new event meets qualityassurance (“QA”) specifications. If the event fails at 1510, then flow1500 returns 1502 to redefine or correct the event definition and/orimplementation. If the event is successful, then it is stored at 1512 inan event library. At 1522, the event is scheduled for introduction intoa synthetic environment. At 1524, the event server 1526 is configured totrigger event at a predetermined time. At the scheduled time, eventserver 1526 fetches the data related to the event from event library1512 and causes synthetic environment generation platform 1528 toimplement the event (e.g., by generating dynamic content). Then, thedynamic content is released to client at 1530 for use in thecomputer-generated world.

In one embodiment, flow 1500 provides for the introduction of dynamiccontent into synthetic environments by way of a patch server process, asimplemented in patch server 1580. In this example, patch server 1580 isconfigured to detect when data representing an event is deposited intothe event library at 1512. Further, patch server 1580 is configured topush, or “trickle down,” data required by the event down to the clientas small files or pieces of data 1582. Accordingly, patch server 1580can push data down at off-peak usage times and can avoid exceedingallotted bandwidth capacities that can otherwise occur when largedownloads, such as 250 MB, happen during peak usage periods, which iscostly. In another embodiment, patch server 1580 determines the amountof data to be pushed and the remaining time to the event, and, thereforecalculates an average amount data that needs to be pushed per unit time.As such, patch server 1580 can vary the amounts of data in the smallfiles 1582 for optimal transport. In a specific embodiment, patch server1580 can be configured to access peak threshold monitoring data indatabase 1584 to determine when to vary the sizes of small files 1582 soas to avoid large amounts of data being pushed at peak usage times.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a specific implementation of a universaldata structure in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention. Universal data structure 1602 is shown as a property classobject identified by identifier 1604 (i.e., “Property Class xxxxxx”).The property class object includes an arrangement of data that includesattributes 1606, each of which can correspond to a property of PropertyClass xxxxxx, such as described below in relation to a universal datastructure specification file 1622 of FIG. 16. Further, an attribute 1606can correspond to a property value (e.g., string, integer, etc.), suchas described in relation to universal data structure 1702 of FIG. 17. Invarious embodiments, universal data structure 1602 can include nesteduniversal data structures (or references thereto). To illustrate,consider that Property Class xxxxxx can define the properties of a ship,such as described in FIG. 20. Universal data structure 1602 then caninclude a nested universal data structure that defines the properties of“positioning” that the ship possesses.

FIG. 16 also includes a diagram showing an example of a universal datastructure specification file in accordance with at least one embodimentof the invention. Universal data structure specification file 1622provides for an instance management schema, which uses nodes in asynthetic environment generation platform to access data embodied in auniversal data structure. Universal data structure specification file1622 may include metadata for each property class object, which may beconfigured to provide corresponding property values for assignedattributes. In some embodiments, a property class object orPropertyClass object (hereafter “property class object”) may be anobject having data or information that is used to determine how torender, generate, or instantiate various types of objects, information,and other parameters within a synthetic environment. Further, propertyclass objects may be configured to provide reduced message data that,when used with, for example, high-speed or large capacity networkconnections, enable rapid or fast game play, synthetic environmentgeneration, and the like. For example, a property class object mayinclude all or a portion of data that is used to instantiate an object.A synthetic environment generation platform (or nodes therein) mayimplement the metadata for creating, displaying and/or implementingvalues of game data. Further, universal data structure specificationfile 1622 may be referenced by identifier 1624 (i.e., “Property ClassSpecification yyyyy”), and can include a reference 1626 to an instancemanagement schema at, for example, location “instance.mgmt.schema.” Insome embodiments, the instance management schema is a data modeldescribing the use of a node to access data in property class objects.Further, universal data structure specification file 1622 can includethe property values (or references thereto) for property class objects1630.

FIG. 17 is a diagram depicting elements of a property class system,according to at least one embodiment of the invention. In someembodiments, property class 1704 may be implemented as universal datastructure 1702, and can have one or more properties (“Property”) 1706.Here, property class 1704 is configured to be a container of specificproperty pointers to corresponding properties values. Further, the oneor more properties 1706 can include property values, such as a string(“PropertyString”) 1708 a, an integer (“PropertyInt”) 1708 b, a largeinteger (“PropertyBigInt”) 1708 c, and others.

Universal data structure specification file 1722 is shown as including aproperty class specification 1724. As such, instances of a common typeof property class 1704 may relate to a property class specification1724. For example, property class 1704 named “Player” may have, forexample, a relationship to property class specification 1724, whichspecifies properties and property values. Further, property classspecification 1724 can include a vector of pointers to one or moreproperty specifications (“PropertySpec”) 1726, each of which may containmetadata associated with properties 1706. A property class manager(“PropertyClassManager”) 1742 can include a map (e.g., a look-up table)for determining a property class name and a property class specificationas a key and value pair. During run-time or execution, a syntheticenvironment generation platform (or nodes therein) can use propertyclass manager 1742 to manage the implementation of data structures andthe game data from the property class system.

FIG. 18 depicts a flow for creating a universal message in accordancewith at least one embodiment of the invention. Flow 1800 shows auniversal data structure editor 1802 being configured to edit or createone or more property class object files, such as XML-based object datafiles 1803. Universal data structure editor 1802 can be, for example, aneditor that provides context-friendly interface elements, such as dropdown menus and data range validation based on the associated propertyclass specs. Further, universal data structure editor 1802 uses the XMLReader 1806 and XML Writer 1805 to serialize the data to and from thesource, which can be one or more of XML-based object data files 1803. Invarious embodiments, universal data structure editor 1802 can beconfigured to edit data formatted in accordance with extensible markuplanguage (i.e., XML), hypertext markup language (i.e., HTML), and anyother markup or formatting languages. Universal data structure editor1802, in some instances, may be replaced with XML-based editor 1807because the property class representation is in an XML-compliant format.XML-based editor 1807 may be any one of a number of commerciallyavailable tools, such as XMLSpy produced by Altova, Inc. of Beverly,Mass.

A property class data file 1803 is brought into the runtime environmentusing the serialization or XML Reader 1806 facility of the propertysystem. This takes the XML-based property class data from a file 1803and creates an “in-memory” C++ property class object representation1809. Any modifications may be reflected back to the original sourceusing the XML Writer 1805 facility.

To facilitate speed of serialization and obfuscation of data versus anXML representation, the property class object 1809 can be serialized toa disk-based binary format 1810 using the Binary Reader 1808 and BinaryWriter 1801 mechanisms. This enables developers to edit in ahuman-readable format (i.e., XML) using convenient tools, and convertthe XML into a binary format, when speed of execution and obfuscationare important.

Should any instance of a C++ object 1809 need to be transmitted over anetwork, the property class object is “packed” or “packetized” fortransport in transmitter 1850. The packetize process at 1811 will usethe services of the Binary Writer 1801 to create the packet and willtransmit the packet at 1812 via link 1842. While receiver 1852 receivesthe packet and will use the services of the Binary Reader 1801 to unpackthe data into an instance of the in memory C++ property class objectrepresentation 1809. Note that either transmitter 1850 or receiver 1852,or both, can be implement in universal message interfaces, according tovarious embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates elements of a property class system for creating auniversal message in accordance with at least one embodiment of theinvention. Diagram 1900 depicts a universal message creation process1940 that uses the following property class system elements: propertyclass objects, such as property class objects 1902, 1904, and 1906, aproperty class manifest 1910, a property class manager 1920, and aproperty class specification file 1930. For illustration purposes,consider that universal message creation process 1940 is configured togenerate a universal message regarding character data. As such,universal message creation process 1940 uses property class object(“player”) 1906, which includes nested property class objects 1902 and1904. Nested property class object (“spells”) 1902 includes a dataarrangement of data representing, for example, the types and strengthsof spells that a player possesses. Nested property class object(“weapon”) 1904 includes a data arrangement of data representing, forexample, the kinds of weapons that the player possesses.

In at least one embodiment, property class manifest 1910 is configuredto provide a space for listing or assembling information and data thatmay be used by a property system to instantiate property class objects.For example, property class manifest 1910 may include a list of propertyclass identifiers (“IDs”), specification file (e.g., specification file1722 (FIG. 17)) names, category tags for each listing to help groupproperty class objects, and others. Further, property class manifest1910 can describe file names, property class object names, and otherresources (or sources of information) for creating a universal message.Property class manager 1920 can include a map of logical and physicalresources and data to manage the implementation of data structures ofproperty class objects 1902, 1904, and 1906 and the game data therein.Property class specification file 1930 can include property values orreferences to property values.

A synthetic environment generation platform and/or its nodes canimplement universal message creation process 1940 and theabove-described property class system elements to form a universalmessage (or a universal data structure), which can be used by the nodesof a synthetic environment generation platform, such as that shown inFIGS. 1 and 3, among others. When a node (e.g., a server, client, peer,or other processor) initiates a universal message creation process 1940,a universal data structure may be implemented as part of the universalmessage. Consider next that process 1950 receives implemented universalmessage. As such, process 1950 can use data 1952 directly from themessage without requiring compilation of its source code.

FIG. 20 illustrates elements of a property class system for creating aplug, according to at least one embodiment of the invention. Diagram2000 depicts a plug creation process 2040 that uses the followingproperty class system elements: property class objects 2002-2006, aproperty class manifest 2010, a property class manager 2020, and aproperty class specification file 2030. For illustration purposes,consider that plug creation process 2040 is configured to generate aplug for rendering the image or game element of a ship (e.g., freighter,tanker, warship (e.g., a Ticonderoga-class, Aegis guided missilecruiser), cruise liner, ocean liner, and others) as dynamic content intoa synthetic environment. As such, plug creation process 2040 uses a plugproperty class object (“ship”) 2006, which includes nested plug propertyclass objects 2002, 2004 and 2005. Nested property class object(“positioning”) 2002 includes a data arrangement of data representing,for example, the positioning and relative motion that the ship willpossess. Nested property class object (“speed”) 2004 includes a dataarrangement of data representing, for example, the speed at which theship steams (i.e., moves). Nested property class object (“appear asship”) 2005 includes a data arrangement of data that describes, forexample, the appearance of a ship that looks like a desired ship shape.In at least one embodiment, property class manifest 2010, property classmanager 2020, and property class specification file 2030 can havesimilar functions and/or structures as described in FIG. 19. In someembodiments, a plug can refer to representations that specify, forexample, data, assets, procedural action list and conditional triggers,among other things. An example of a data representation is propertyclass object 2004, which includes data specifying the speed of a ship.An example of an asset representation is plug property class object2006, which includes data specifying a ship as an asset. An example of arepresentation for a procedural action list includes data that specifiesactions that the plug object should perform. For example, proceduralaction list data can specify that a ship will: (1.) turn toward aharbor, (2.) keep sailing, and (3.) stop at a dock. An example of aconditional trigger representation includes data specifying that Xshould happen once the conditional trigger fires at event Y. Forexample, conditional trigger data can specify that the ship should blowup once it arrives at the dock.

A synthetic environment generation platform and/or its nodes canimplement plug creation process 2040 and the above-described propertyclass system elements to form plug data 2052. Consider next that process2050 is the recipient of plug data 2052. In particular, plug data 2052includes one or more universal data structures that can provide gamedata to socket code 2054 of process 2050. As such, process 2050 can useplug data 2052 to introduce dynamic content into a synthetic environmentwithout requiring further or additional compilation of the source codefor either process 2050 or socket code 2054. In one embodiment, plugdata 2052 can be stored as ship plug data 2061 in a database (“d/B”)2060. A user can use event editor 2064 to collaborate with an eventserver 2062 to create ship plug data 2061. Further, the user can useevent editor 2064 to schedule the date and time at which ship plug data2061 is plugged into socket code 2054 for generating dynamic content,for example, at a scheduled time. In some embodiments, event editor 2064can be an application built on top of either an XML editor or a propertyclass editor.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a portion of a messaging systemimplementing a compressed universal message, according to at least oneembodiment of the invention. Here, message system portion 2100 includesa server process 2106 and a client process 2150, both of which arecoupled via a network 2130 for exchanging messages, among other things.In this embodiment, message system portion 2100 can transport a messageas a universal data structure, including a subset of data associatedwith a server-side (or a client-side) property class object (“<pco>”)2160. An example of such a message is a response from client process2150 indicating a modification to the synthetic environment. Serverprocess 2106 and client process 2150 respectively include universalmessage interface 2110 a and universal message interface 2110 b. Serverprocess 2106 can use data arranged in accordance with property classobject 2160 to, in whole or in part, generate a synthetic environment inresponse to game data modifications transmitted from client process2150. An example of modified game data is the data generated by clientprocess 2150 to cause movement for an avatar in the syntheticenvironment. In at least one embodiment, server process 2106 and/orclient process 2150 can exchange messages as a compressed universalmessage 2120. As both server process 2106 and client process 2150 canimplement property class object 2160 with which to exchange data, areduced amount of data may be exchanged in compressed universal message2120. In some embodiments, modified game data 2124 associated withproperty class object 2122 may be transported in a universal message. Asan example, consider that modified game data 2124 specifies a modifiedvalue for a certain property, which may be identified by an index. Assuch, compressed universal message 2120 may include index 2128 toidentify a related attribute of modified game data 2124. With thisinformation, server process 2106 may be configured or implemented tomodify the synthetic environment.

FIG. 22 is an illustration of multiple devices implementing a universalmessaging interface to interact with a synthetic environment generationplatform, according to at least one embodiment of the invention.Synthetic environment generation platform 2800 includes gamesubprocesses 2282, database processes 2284, and game managementprocesses 2286, which include game management servers 2288 a to 2288 n.As is shown, a variety of clients 2290 implementing a universalmessaging interface (“UMI”) 2292 can interact with synthetic environmentgeneration platform 2200 via a network 2289, such as the Internet Inthis example, set top box 2290 a, mobile device 2290 b, computing device2290 c, game console 2290 d, satellite receiver (“RX”) 2290 e, cellphone 2290 g, personal digital assistant (“PDA”) 2290 h, and television2290 i, among other things, can be configured to implement a universalmessaging interface (“UMI”) 2292 as is described herein. In at least oneembodiment, any device 2290 f that includes logic (e.g., a processor andmemory) can implement universal data structures and/or property classesof the various embodiments to participant in a synthetic environment.

In various embodiments, the property class systems and instances thereofcan be implemented as C++ property class objects, or any other propertyclass in other programming languages. Further, while theabove-discussion describes various features in the context of on-linegaming, the embodiments of the invention are not to be limited toon-line gaming. Rather, the features and techniques described herein canbe applied to synthetic environment for training purposes, educationalpurposes, social purposes, and the like. Note, too, that while theabove-discussion is in the context of distributed servers in aclient-server architecture, the various embodiments are not so limiting.For example, one or more node processes can be aggregated into a singleprocess. Further, any network architecture and topology can beimplemented with the embodiments of the invention. For example, asynthetic environment generation platform can implement peer-to-peernetwork and the like.

In at least some of the embodiments of the invention, the structuresand/or functions of any of the above-described features can beimplemented in software, hardware, firmware, circuitry, or a combinationthereof. Note that the structures and constituent elements above, aswell as their functionality, can be aggregated with one or more otherstructures or elements. Alternatively, the elements and theirfunctionality can be subdivided into constituent sub-elements, if any.As software, the above-described described techniques can be implementedusing various types of programming or formatting languages, frameworks,syntax, applications, protocols, objects, or techniques, including C,Objective C, C++, C#, Flex™, Fireworks®, Java™, Javascript™, AJAX,COBOL, Fortran, ADA, XML, HTML, DHTML, XHTML, HTTP, XMPP, and others.These can be varied and are not limited to the examples or descriptionsprovided.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specificdetails are not required in order to practice the invention. In fact,this description should not be read to limit any feature or aspect ofthe present invention to any embodiment; rather features and aspects ofone embodiment can readily be interchanged with other embodiments.

Thus, the foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of theinvention are presented for purposes of illustration and description.They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to theprecise forms disclosed; many alternatives, modifications, equivalents,and variations are possible in view of the above teachings. For thepurpose of clarity, technical material that is known in the technicalfields related to the embodiments has not been described in detail toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the description. Thus, the variousembodiments can be modified within the scope and equivalents of theappended claims. Further, the embodiments were chosen and described inorder to best explain the principles of the invention and its practicalapplications; they thereby enable others skilled in the art to bestutilize the invention and various embodiments with various modificationsas are suited to the particular use contemplated. Notably, not everybenefit described herein need be realized by each embodiment of thepresent invention; rather any specific embodiment can provide one ormore of the advantages discussed above. In the claims, elements and/oroperations do not imply any particular order of operation, unlessexplicitly stated in the claims. It is intended that the followingclaims and their equivalents define the scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method to introduce content intosynthetic environments, the method comprising: maintaining datarepresenting an event in an event library database, the event associatedwith a plug object configured to interact with object code executing tocreate a synthetic environment, wherein the synthetic environment is acomputer-based simulated environment of a virtual world; detecting acondition that triggers introduction of dynamic content into thesynthetic environment; introducing the dynamic content into thesynthetic environment during the execution of the object code, whereinthe introducing of the dynamic content into the synthetic environmentcomprises: determining an off-peak usage time and a peak usage time, theoff-peak usage time having a lower cost for transmitting data than thepeak usage time; and scheduling and transmitting the dynamic content toa client during the off-peak time; and in the event that differentdynamic content is introduced into the synthetic environment, generatinga portion of the synthetic environment without revising the object code.2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining a time duringwhich the dynamic content persists in association with at least aportion of the synthetic environment.
 3. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: generating data configured to display a representation ofthe time during which the dynamic content is introduced into thesynthetic environment.
 4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:storing data representing another event in the event library database;scheduling another plug object of the another event to interact with theobject code; and generating additional data configured to display arepresentation of another time during which additional dynamic contentis introduced into the synthetic environment.
 5. The method of claim 4further comprises: displaying the representation of the another time inassociation with an event server guide.
 6. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: generating the event to include the plug object withoutmodifying the object code.
 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:developing source code with the plug object; and compiling the sourcecode to form the object code.
 8. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising: developing another plug object in association with anotherevent; testing the another plug object in association with the objectcode; and determining whether the another plug object meets one or morequality assurance (“QA”) specifications.
 9. The method of claim 8further comprising: storing plug data associated with the another plugobject in the event library database if the one or more qualityassurance specifications are met.
 10. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: initializing a plug insertion process by which the plugobject interacts with the object code.
 11. The method of claim 10further comprising: fetching plug data of the plug object from the eventlibrary database; and incorporating the plug data with socket code ofthe object code.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic contentincludes data representing location of an object, positioning of theobject, speed of the object, path of the object, or any combinationthereof.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the introducing of thedynamic content into the synthetic environment further comprisesdividing the dynamic content into a plurality of pieces of data.
 14. Amethod to introduce content into synthetic environments, the methodcomprising: executing object code to generate a synthetic environment,wherein the synthetic environment is a computer-based simulatedenvironment of a virtual world; monitoring times at which data fromproperty class objects are to be inserted into socket code of the objectcode; detecting a scheduled time for one of the property class objects;inserting the data into the socket code to associate content with thesynthetic environment, wherein the inserting of the data into the socketcode comprises: determining whether an event has occurred, the eventincluding a scheduled time or a condition, the condition including anumber of participants at a location has surpassed a threshold; and inthe event that the event has occurred, inserting the data into thesocket code; and in the event that different data is inserted into thesocket code, generating a portion of the synthetic environment withoutrevising the object code.
 15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:accessing one or more data arrangements that comport with the propertyclass objects to fetch the data.
 16. The method of claim 15 furthercomprising: determining an asset representation for an item that isassociated with the data; and rendering the item in relation to thesynthetic environment.
 17. The method of claim 15 further comprising:determining a procedural action list for an item that is associated withthe data; and implementing actions for the item as a function of theprocedural action list in the context of the synthetic environment. 18.The method of claim 14 wherein inserting the data into the socket codecomprises: generating a universal message including at least a portionof the data; and transmitting the universal message from an event serverto a game management server.
 19. The method of claim 18 whereintransmitting the universal message comprises: transmitting the universalmessage as an XML-formatted message.
 20. The method of claim 18 whereintransmitting the universal message comprises: transmitting the universalmessage as a binary-formatted message.
 21. A system for introducingcontent into synthetic environments, comprising: a processor configuredto: maintain data representing an event in an event library database,the event associated with a plug object configured to interact withobject code executing to create a synthetic environment, wherein thesynthetic environment is a computer-based simulated environment of avirtual world; detect a condition that triggers introduction of dynamiccontent into the synthetic environment; introduce the dynamic contentinto the synthetic environment during the execution of the object code,wherein the introducing of the dynamic content into the syntheticenvironment comprises: determine an off-peak usage time and a peak usagetime, the off-peak usage time having a lower cost for transmitting datathan the peak usage time; and schedule and transmit the dynamic contentto a client during the off-peak time; and in the event that differentdynamic content is introduced into the synthetic environment, generate aportion of the synthetic environment without revising the object code;and a memory coupled to the processor and configured to provide theprocessor with instructions.
 22. A computer program product forintroducing content into synthetic environments, the computer programproduct being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium and comprising computer instructions for: maintaining datarepresenting an event in an event library database, the event associatedwith a plug object configured to interact with object code executing tocreate a synthetic environment, wherein the synthetic environment is acomputer-based simulated environment of a virtual world; detecting acondition that triggers introduction of dynamic content into thesynthetic environment; introducing the dynamic content into thesynthetic environment during the execution of the object code, whereinthe introducing of the dynamic content into the synthetic environmentcomprises: determining an off-peak usage time and a peak usage time, theoff-peak usage time having a lower cost for transmitting data than thepeak usage time; and scheduling and transmitting the dynamic content toa client during the off-peak time; and in the event that differentdynamic content is introduced into the synthetic environment, generatinga portion of the synthetic environment without revising the object code.